Good year

[RobinHood]

Seeing as the summer season draws to a close , good time to reflect on the past season ( Are you doing a picture memoir again norman ? ) Never had so many doubles as this year , most of which went to other peeps btw ! The new tactics discussed before my sudden demise of leadheads and and all sorts of weird and wonderfull pirks worked an absolute treat . Best catches by far went to orange pirks and the devastating leadhead range , luminous and orange giving some fantastic catches . Dont know about you lot but I thought it was the best year ever . looking forward to uptiding over the winter . Anybody ganning ????

[boblydon]

yep, after reading jeffs posts on uptiding,its deffo something i will be trying this year as never done it before

[jeff]

When the fishing was good this year...it was very good but we had more poor days than previous years. I\'ve never known a summer be so windy which obviously hasn\'t helped our cause. I think what didn\'t help us either was the fact we had a cracking first day on the wrecks this year and expected the same with each trip!!

The same goes for uptiding as well though. Wind kills the fishing. If the boat doesn\'t lie with the tide it seems pointless as the catch rate is just like the shore....crap. They get away with a bit of wind down south, (i.e. Bristol Channel) because of the tide strength they have.

Jeff.

[KeithB]

Yep my best season (Didn\'t start boat fishing till late august last year) Need a 25lb ling now though!

Went digging worm with Bert, Skull and Kenny this morning, and over a pint in the Dolphin (10.0am :P ) Bert was saying one of our better trips last year was about a week before halloween, so a few weeks left yet!

We also discussed Jeff\'s style of winter fishing, i.e. drop anchor, chuck the lines over, then get the kettle and Bacon on! Sounds Good!!

[RobinHood]

Sounds good to me as well keith , very sedate way of angling . Is most of it done off the island then or any rough ground ???

[CJS]

Interesting your coments re uptide fishing chaps. How much tide do you get in the NE? The tides you refer to in the south can be horendouse. We dont have any trouble in East Angla, and I would have thought ours are simaler to yours?
CJS

[LING_BASHER]

Most the tides are ok we get alot of tides around the 4.4 - 4.8 so there good, anyhting more and you drift abit fast unless the wind is against the tide.

As already said we had some fantastic days this year with stacks of fish but we did find some days really hard to find the fish in any number.

lots of nice double cod this year but not had many ling into doubles....but we have only made it out 4 times since the first week in aug.

Already dreaming of next may

[LING_BASHER]

Most the tides are ok we get alot of tides around the 4.4 - 4.8 so there good, anyhting more and you drift abit fast unless the wind is against the tide.

As already said we had some fantastic days this year with stacks of fish but we did find some days really hard to find the fish in any number.

lots of nice double cod this year but not had many ling into doubles....but we have only made it out 4 times since the first week in aug.

Already dreaming of next may

[CJS]

A 4+ tide is fine for uptideing, understand drifting prefers smaller tides. But if you are uptideing obviously at anchor there should be no problems. East Anglian tides are about 2.8 to 4.3, making the small tides a bit of a problem. We only fish uptide on sub 3m tides for about 2 or 3 hours, the rest of the time a cast away from the boat holding the rod and adjusting the line as required. 3m plus and every thing is hunky dory.

As your tides seem to be similar to ours, use softer light rods, 6-8oz tips, the 10oz tip favoured by the southern anglers does not fish so well in a light tide. In downtide terms 6-8ozs is about 12-15lb class, or a very light 20lb. Soft tip, medium through action.

By the way have you guys discovered \'unwashed squid\', down here for cod, it often out-fishes lugworm, and always matches it!

CJS

[jeff]

Hi Robin Hood,

We start fishing off St Mary\'s October ....anywhere between the yellow can and 250 yds off the island.Would like to fish a little further north at Newbiggin but we don\'t know the area at all. Close in at Cullercoats bay can also be good.

We find as the winter progresses we move further south and actually end up off Seaham by March / April. We do this as a general rule of thumb but it\'s not cast in stone. Close in off St. Mary\'s is very rough and you need to be careful...we actually lost a couple of anchors last winter so make sure you always carry a spare, (close in always seems to fish better when it\'s flat calm as well).

We\'ve tried to fish the sand or mud bottom areas but frankly we\'ve wasted our time. Experience tells us that the rougher ground has proved more fruitful in our area.

Also, as with most fishing in our area....peeler crab rules supreme !!

Hi CJS,

Have heard of unwashed squid....but never used it. Do you fish with it on its own or as a cocktail? Can it be frozen and still work? Anyone know where we could get it local?

Cheers,
Jeff.

[CJS]

Unwashes Squid.
UWS is used whole, on its own, set up on a pennal rig for presentation. It looks like the stuff you buy in 1lb boxes, but is not snow white. Here-in is the rub, unwashed squid is in its natural form as caught. The stuff you get in 1lb boxes has been bleached in a fresh water bath. In other words, the way we usualy use squid is not natural to the fish, the reason it is bleached, is for presentation for human consumption!

The bleaching seem to create the refreez pinking as well. I refreez any UWS that I come back with that I have kept in a cold box. Dont bother to try refreexing any that has been laying about on your bait board!!!

The final touch to presentation is a couple of 2\" slits in the body, this alows the gutt juces to escape, giving a better scent trail. I have tried head and gutts on their own, 2 or 3 knited on the trace, deadly on its day, but not as reliable generaly. Another cocktail that can work is lugworm and a head on the hook as a tip, again good on its day. Just 2 or 3 heads can work as well, this uses the heads that break off.

Some tackle shops seem to sell it, but you must ask, other wise you will be given the 1lb boxes. If its snow white, it aint\' \'unwashed squid\'. UWS has a creamy grey, natural colour, with the redish skin over.

I buy mine from a local fish wholesaler, there must be plenty in your part of the world. A 10kg box is £20, alow it to defrost for 8 hours at room temperature. It is then possible to break the block up and tease the squid apart and re bag into 1lb lots. Thats all I use in the winter, no digging, ordering or waste, go fishing at the drop of a hat, take advantage of weather windows and trips can be aranged and cancelled with no penalty!
CJS

[RobinHood]

Richy , first job ! Source some unwashed squid asap :P Thanks Jeff for that , will sort out a chuck-a-away anchor kit .

[Edited on 26/9/2004 by RobinHood]

[mark]

billy sells unwashed squid, we were using it on sunday and it was the only thing the fish (what few there were) were interested in

[CJS]

Hi Mark, I find this down here in East Anglia Lugworm just has not performed in the past couple of winter seasons, and yet, tell fellow anglers and they just laugh. We still have the winter culture; \'no lug on board, not worth launching!!\' Nout so quere as folk!
CJS

[Ell]

Is it not worth fishing the reef/s around Craster in the winter?